


It Takes Time

by Sweetymomo



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Homophobic Language, Hurt Nico di Angelo, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace Fluff, Will Solace is a Good Boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22658503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetymomo/pseuds/Sweetymomo
Summary: Maybe Nico should just go on a date with his boyfriend. At a mall. In public. He has no reason not to go, and he's tired of seeming like he doesn't want to put effort into their relationship. Nico constantly wonders how Will can seem so unaffected when people are jerks.He wished he could do the same.It's just hard.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 8
Kudos: 201





	It Takes Time

It happened while Will and Nico were out on a date. Their first "real" date. Will had asked Nico to go to the mall with him, and Nico couldn't find an excuse or a real reason to not go. Nico could've just told Will no, and he would've respected his choice and asked again in a month or two to see if Nico had changed his mind. But when Nico thought about it, he hadn't left camp since the journey with Reyna and coach hedge. 

He needed to get out and have a fresh breath of air, and Will, his boyfriend, was giving him an perfect opportunity.

The word, 'boyfriend', always made Nico's cheeks flush and had him averting people's gazes. Will never really done that. He had always smiled and proudly introduced Nico as his boyfriend, looking unbothered by the shocked faces or squints. Nico honestly wished he could do the same. Will was nice, caring, and understanding. Who wouldn't want to point at him and say, 'ha, yeah that's MY boyfriend'? 

But, there always was the nagging part of Nico's brain that never let go of the homophobia he had received from himself. Nico couldn't remember much of his childhood, but there was always one thing that burned itself in his mind ever since he had found out about it. Like a festering scar.

Homosexuals were gross, sick, and getting rid of them was doing gods work. That's how it was. And, sometimes Nico couldn't really let go of that. 

Despite this, Nico allowed himself to be dragged around the mall by Will. The mall was almost empty, on account of it being 12pm on a Monday. Nico suspected Will did that on purpose so he wouldn't get too uncomfortable. Will had a light grasp on his palm and wrist, pointing at a store that was decked out with all black. He smiled and chuckled, his right dimple showing.

"I dunno, neeks. Doesn't that store fit your whole, 'prince of darkness and king of ghosts' aesthetic?" Will's eyes scrunched up, light dancing in his blue eyes playfully.

Nico rolled his eyes and shoved Will in the arm, earning a 'hey!' and a push back.  
"If you're going to be like that, there's a store over there that fits you perfectly." Nico jabbed his thumb towards a store that was unnaturally bright, with pinks and whites and blues gnashing together.  
Nico thought it was terrible, and he guessed so did Will, because he gasped dramatically and put his hand over his heart.

"Claire's doesn't even come close to me,-"  
"Sure."  
"-And I actually got my ears pierced there. It sucked."

Nico had started walking to a cookie shop, thumbing his chain that connected to his wallet. All the way to the mall, Will was telling him about how good the cookies were. Nico didn't really believe any cookie baked in a shop could be compared to Sally's cookies, but he was going to give them a shot.

Nico scoffed, smiling thinly at Will who was now rolling his ear lobe through his pointer finger and thumb.  
"What happened?" Nico asked as he stared at the store menu. He then concluded, there was no way in hell the store actually sold THAT many cookies. Then, he looked around and noticed, yeah. They sold THAT many cookies. 

"Well, the holes got infected for one. I was like, 10. My brother took me up here when I had asked him if I could get some peircings." Will stopped to point at the chocolate chip cookie bag, noticing Nico was getting overwhelmed. "I was just learning the ropes of healing, so when I woke up one morning and the infection had started overnight, I was in pain."

While Will continued to share his story, Nico had ordered the cookies and two waters, looking back at Will to show he was listening. Everything was going so smoothly, Nico almost couldn't believe that he had worried so much in the first place. He knew Will would have his back and make sure he was okay, so why DID he worry?

It didn't occur to him why until he spotted a woman glaring at him. His social anxiety kicked in, then he realized she must've been trying to order something and that him and Will should move. Nico grabbed on Will's sleeve and tugged, pulling him to the side for the woman to roll her eyes and move past the pair.

"What a bitch." He heard Will murmur. Luckily, the woman didn't hear him. She was too busy ordering a box of 20 cookies. 

"Anyway.. I think you'd look good with earrings. Maybe like, black studs.." Will said, grabbing Nico's ear lobe and studying it like it was his next patient. Nico swatted his hand away, blushing.  
"After that horror story? No way." Nico said half serious and half teasing. 

"Nico, you've been through more than an ear infection," Will said obviously, "and besides, I'd fix it up to where it wouldn't get infected. Claire's has terrible sanitization issues."  
As Will said, 'terrible sanitization issues', Nico had to shudder. He remembered the werewolf claw marks, and how it took almost a week of bed rest and Will's constant care for them to heal properly. Even Will couldn't heal the scars etching themselves around Nico's bicep. 

Soon after, the cashier put their drinks on the counter and rung up their order, handing Will the bag of cookies. Like a animal, he ripped through the bag and grabbed two cookies and shoveled them in his mouth.  
"Dude." Nico deadpanned while handing the cashier two five dollar bills. "Save some for me, heathen. I'm the one that paid for them."

Will promptly ignored him and ate another cookie, looking smug as he licked the cookie crumbs off of the corner of his mouth. Nico rolled his eyes and grabbed their waters and walked to a booth that was secluded enough for his liking.

The fake leather seats of the booth were cracked and crusty, and Nico found himself wincing at the old table smell that wafted into the air as he sat down. Who chose the color to be brown? He would've went with a olive green.

But hey, there were cookies. And they smelled better than the booth, so Nico grabbed three and went to town, occasionally washing them down with water. In almost no time, both the boys had eaten all the cookies. There was only one left, and the pair stared at it intensely.

"You can have it." Will said finally, crossing his arms.  
"No," Nico countered, leaning over the table. "I'm full."  
"I'm serious, Nico. Eat the cookie."  
"I paid for it, I get to say who eats it. Eat the damn cookie, solace." 

Will rolled his eyes, took the cookie, and threw it into the nearest trash can. Nico could only watch in horror as his boyfriend stubbornly grinned.  
"You're fucking insane." Is all Nico said. Will smiled, his tongue poking out to wet his lips. He grabbed Nico's hand under the table and squeezed, his eyes sparkling as Nico squeezed back.

Everything was fine. Nico was full of chocolate chip cookies and was holding his boyfriends hand, nothing was wrong. But, Nico still had a nagging feeling that wasn't going away. He wished it did. He was trying to enjoy his date.

"Dumbass fags. No wonder you two acted so dumb by the cash register." The same woman from the register said snarkily as she walked passed them to throw away her trash.

Nico tore his hand away from Will's as if he was burned. He tried his best to sink into the cracked leather seat, his cheeks hot and a lump forming in his throat.  
"You can stick your trash up your ass, ma'am." Will sneered, glaring at the woman as she turned and walked towards the exit, her heels clinking loudly on the marble floor.

Was it something he had said or done? He didn't think he had outwardly offended the woman. Maybe him and Will shouldn't have been talking so friendly, or maybe they shouldn't have kept eye contact for so long. Keeping dorky smiles on their faces was a dead give away. Nico crossed his arms, slouching into the seat as far as he could, avoiding looking at Will. He winced as every thought and emotion crossed his mind.

"-ico. Nico, hey. You okay?" It was Will. His eyebrows knitted in concern, those stupid pink lips in a line because Will always bit them when he was worried. Nico hated he was so weak for him. Nico hated the woman for humiliating him for no reason. It wasn't his fault, and the rational part of his mind knew it.

Or maybe it was.  
"Yeah..yeah, Can we go home?" Nico asked, his nail scrapping against his bicep anxiously. He didn't want to ruin their date, they had just got their after all. But, his nerves were already shot and his throat was tight.

Will had his hand on the table, not too close and not too far away. He always had a way of calming Nico's anxiety, letting him know he was there for Nico, or he was there for Nico to tell to go away if he needed the space.  
He nodded, his surfer hair slightly bouncing and shining annoyingly in the harsh white lights.

"Yeah, Neeks. Let's go home, come on." 

Will let Nico get out of the booth first, throwing away their trash behind him. Nico appreciated the space, but he felt guilty. Will understood and was good for Nico, but what did Nico give Will? His brain nagged at him until they came up on the exit. Nico stopped, causing Will to halt.  
"Can we shadow travel? I wanna show you something." Nico asked. Maybe, just maybe, if Nico could take Will somewhere secluded.. somewhere he could talk, he would feel better.

Will looked conflicted. His eyebrows pinched together. Then, he sighed in defeat. Nico had gotten better at shadow traveling after the whole almost-disapearing-into-a-shadow incident, Will saw no reason to keep him from doing what he wanted. He had always kept a close on his boyfriend anyway.  
"Yeah. Just don't fade on me." 

Nico grabbed Will's wrist and stepped into the shadow of a near by potted tree, disappearing almost immediately.

Sometimes, the shadows brought comfort to Nico. But, most times all they did was bring back memories he wanted to forget. He concentrated on the warm wrist that he was holding, and how he was the Son of Hades, the darkness obeyed him. The shadows did nothing more than stick to him momentarily then peel off like multiple stickers.

When the pair came back to the mortal world, they were in the middle of a little clearing, flowers of nearly every color mixing in with the green grass. Not too far away was a small ledge that dropped off, looking over the area. The sun was almost in the middle of the sky, signalling it must've been at least 2pm.

Nico's knees wobbled, he grabbed on to Will's shirt for support as the world spun around him. It took a few moments, but he finally felt focused and not like a newborn giraffe. He let go of Will's shirt and apologized for wrinkling it. Will chuckled and let go of Nico's arms, which he didn't even know he was holding.  
"It's okay, death boy. What're we doing here?" Will looked around, his blue eyes shining like pools of spring water in the colorful environment.

"I wanted you to see this place. I found it while exploring these woods. We're pretty close to Camp Half-blood." Nico inhaled the sweet air silently, closing his eyes to savor the moment. "No monsters ever show up here. It's like...It's too peaceful for them."

Nico realized how out of his depth he probably looked. A boy with black hair and clothes, a literal chain in his pocket. Not to mention his skull ring. He probably looked black and white there; bland. Will looked the opposite. If anything, it looked like the son of Apollo belonged in the flowers.

But, despite what he thought, Will looked at him and smiled with the brightness of a hundred suns. His eyes lingered on Nico's face for a bit, his expression turning soft.  
"It's beautiful." He said tenderly. Nico wasn't sure if he was talking about the clearing. He gulped, trying to find the words to explain how he was feeling. He was always bad at emotions.

"And..I just wanted to say I'm sorry." He finally pushed out.  
Will didn't look matter of fact or smug when Nico apologized, he looked very confused. A lost puppy look over came his features.  
"For what?" He said genuinely.

Nico stared at Will blankly, looking at him like,  
'for ruining our fun date vibes, William.'  
Instead he sighed, shrugging and twisting his ring on his finger. It tugged on his skin and pinched him. Nico looked down, occuring to him that his hands were getting bigger.

"For leaving so quick. We could've just stayed but…I don't know. That woman.." Nico couldn't continue because Will looked so lost he even wondered if he had the memory of going to the mall with him.

"Nico, if I didn't want to leave, I would've asked." He deadpanned.  
"I know, but,-"  
"And, I understand. She got under your skin. Undervalued us, it made me mad too." Will paused, licking his lips. "Your new to this Nico, I'm not gonna force you to stay in a mall when your uncomfortable."

Nico laughed, crossing his arms and looking up into the trees.  
"New to being gay?" He asked bitterly.  
Will shook his head and put his hand on Nico's shoulder, frowning.  
"No. New to being open about being gay. Nico, you just came out like, two years ago." Will shrugged. "Things like that take time. I'm here to be your boyfriend. Not force you to endure homophobic comments that you don't wanna take."

Nico was silent. He breathed deeply, listening to the trees rustle and the nearby stream run. He finally looked at Will and smiled.  
"Thanks." 

Will rolled his eyes and punched Nico's shoulder lightly, grinning as Nico lunged at him to pinch his arm. He grabbed his wrist and twirled him around.  
"No need to thank me, death boy. What are boyfriends for anyway?" 

Nico scoffed, pushing Will away teasingly.  
"I don't know. Waking me up at 11am singing one direction on a Saturday."

Will looked offended.  
"That was one time! It was funny too." 

Nico smiled sheepishly, letting Will grab his hand. Things we're going to be okay. Maybe not in few years or months, or even weeks. But right then, everything was okay. Will was right, all he had to do was give himself time. There was always going to be that self doubt, but he had people supporting him at every turn. He didn't have to hide behind the shadows anymore. Will's bright and annoying demeanor was enough to scare them anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first AO3 fanfiction, can't say I'm not nervous. I'll always grow to be a better writer as time goes on. I can't wait to look back on this and see how much I've progressed.
> 
> This was inspired by a post I made on my Tumblr, pottasiumisgod.


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